Hillary Clinton Fights For Florida

[South Carolina votes today. We’ll cover the primary in South Carolina when the polls close. Jesse Jackson received 64% of the vote in South Carolina in 1988. Will Obama get less than 64% of the vote? We’ll know tonight.]

* * *

It is a constant source of amazement how dense Big Blogs are. Even when you spell things out for them in Pink and Black, they still don’t get it. Some, like Josh Marshall are simple Obama shills not wanting to face the facts. Other Big Blogs are simply not that bright. Case in point: the seating of Florida delegates at the Democratic National Convention.

Right after the epic New Hampshire victory we wrote What Happened? What Happens Next?We suggested Hillary should declare that the Michigan delegation to the Democratic convention should be seated. Hillary should demand that all candidates agree that the Democrats of Michigan should not be disenfranchised. Make Michigan a big deal.

We understood at the time that Michigan was a more complex situation because Obama and Edwards had removed their names, stupidly, from the Michigan ballot. Here is the gist of our argument and what the ninny Big Blogs (and ninny Big Media) still don’t get:

Force Obama and Edwards to say whether the Democrats of Michigan and Florida should be disenfranchised – NOW – Before the Michigan and Florida primaries.

Let the Democrats of Michigan and Florida know who is fighting for them and their rights to representation. New Hampshire and Iowa also violated the calendar the DNC set up and have not been punished by having their right to representation at the Democratic convention abolished. Restore the rights of Michigan and Florida Democrats. [snip]

[Why do we suggest the above? Once the voting starts the race becomes about acquiring the delegates that will vote to elect the nominee at the Democratic convention. Hillary needs to secure the massive delegations from Michigan and Florida. The way to do that is to fight for them. Obama, via John Conyers, will run an advertising campaign to try to get the Michigan voters to vote noncommitted, not for Hillary, in their primary and deprive Hillary of a Michigan victory. Hillary has to fight for the votes in Michigan and Florida and demonstrate that Obama has not and will not support the voters of Michigan and Florida.]

Hopefully the above is sufficient for ninny Big Blogs. Florida newspapers will discuss the fight over Florida delegates and the right of Florida to be represented at the Democratic convention. Florida voters will see Hillary fighting for their rights. Florida voters will see Obama fighting to DISENFRANCISE Florida delegates. Get it? In November Florida voters will remember.

Nationally the Florida delegate disenfrancisement might not make too many headlines. But where it counts, in Florida, the voters will see Hillary fighting for them, Obama fighting against them. This will have consequences in Florida in November and this coming Tuesday at the Florida primaries. Do we need to make this any clearer?

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Meanwhile it is clear that Josh Marshall is a know nothing Obama shill. Josh Marshall is now writing the Obama Talking Points Memo. Think we are being unfair? Read Marshall’s first sentence in yesterday’s front page post. Marshall thinks he is now a an Obama Field Marshal issuing directives to the troops:

The Clinton camp really needs to be shut down on this new gambit of theirs to muscle the party and the other candidates into seating the Michigan and Florida delegate slates.

And let me be very clear about what I mean. It was very debatable decision whether the DNC should have punished Florida and Michigan with the loss of their delegates slates because they broke the rules the party had set down for scheduling their primaries. By ‘debatable’ I don’t mean it was right or wrong, only that it was a pretty draconian move and I know there was a lot of discussion about whether or not it was the right thing to do.

But that was the decision — one that each of the candidates at least implicitly agreed to. Indeed, each agreed not to campaign in either of these states, again implicitly agreeing to the decision not to seat the delegates.

The Clinton camp is just pushing to seat these delegates now because the contingencies of the moment mean that the decision would favor Hillary. She was the only one whose name was on the ballot in Michigan, thus insuring her win. She has a wide lead in every Florida poll taken this month.

Even Michigan was a matter of her basically pulling a fast one on the other candidates by not taking her name off the ballot. Each of the major candidates signed a pledge not to “campaign or participate” in any primary or caucus prior to Feb. 5th except for Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. The other major candidates adopted what seems like the only reasonable interpretation of the pledge (see text here) and pulled their names from the ballot.

But then Hillary didn’t, thus in essence guaranteeing her win in Michigan.

The Clinton campaign said taking her name off the ballot wasn’t required by the pledge. But what can “participate” mean over and above “campaigning” other than formally being a candidate in the race?

In any case, by gaming the process Clinton already insured her win in Michigan, though it seemed only for a symbolic victory, not real delegates.

Josh Marshall is disqualified from discussing politics. He is either a mendacious shill or a total ninny. Marshall either does not have the facts but still discusses what he does not know anything about or Marshall is deliberately deluding his readers.

We discussed the Michigan situation regarding Obama’s stupidity and his and Edwards attempts to mug Hillary on October 14, 2007. We wrote:

Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden “apparently are all but conceding” the Dem nomination to HRC. Otherwise, “they wouldn’t have made such a shortsighted and cowardly decision” to remove their names from MI’s primary ballot. Only a “desperate longshot would deliberately offend residents of a state crucial to electing the next” POTUS. HRC “notably wasn’t too intimidated” by the DNC or “afraid of upsetting the voters” in NH, IA, SC or NV. Conversely, the decisions of Obama, Edwards, Richardson and Biden “suggests that they know it’s nearly over for them”.

The clumsy “campaigns” indulged themselves in silly games and shot themselves in the foot. Typical.

A cynic would note that Hillary was the only major candidate whose name was on the ballot in Michigan, running against “uncommitted,” and that she is also favored to win Florida after none of the candidates campaigned in the state.

“I hear all the time from people in Florida and Michigan that they want their voices heard in selecting the Democratic nominee.

“I believe our nominee will need the enthusiastic support of Democrats in these states to win the general election, and so I will ask my Democratic convention delegates to support seating the delegations from Florida and Michigan. I know not all of my delegates will do so and I fully respect that decision. But I hope to be President of all 50 states and U.S. territories, and that we have all 50 states represented and counted at the Democratic convention.

“I hope my fellow potential nominees will join me in this.

“I will of course be following the no-campaigning pledge that I signed, and expect others will as well.”

While Hillary fights for the right of voters to be counted, Obama is fighting to disenfrancise the voters from 2 big electoral vote states while at the same time engaging in a personal attack against Hillary:

“Whether it is Barack Obama’s record, her position on Social Security, or even the meaning of the Florida Primary, it seems like Hillary Clinton will do or say anything to win an election.”

Where are those hacks like Obama’s Talking Points Memo and assorted politicians who defend Obama now that Obama is making a personal attack on Hillary? “New Politics” indeed.

Where is John Edwards on this issue? Where is the self-styled tribune of the people on disenfranchisement of Florida and Michigan voters? Speak up BEFORE the Florida primary John. Don’t blink on this one.

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As we wrote Florida newspapers will inform Florida voters about Hillary fighting for Florida. Florida newspapers will also inform Florida voters that Obama wants to disenfranchise them.

Florida is a crucial state for Democrats (Does anyone in the Obama campaign remember the 2000 election?)

“I believe our nominee will need the enthusiastic support of Democrats in these states to win the general election, and so I will ask my Democratic convention delegates to support seating the delegations from Florida and Michigan,” the Senator said in a statement.

Florida will send 210 delegates and 31 alternates to the Convention. While the Democratic National Committee Rules & Bylaws Committee reduced Florida’s delegation, the Florida Democratic Party is confident that all of Florida’s delegates will be seated in Denver.

“We thank Senator Clinton for her support and commitment to the Sunshine State,” Florida Democratic Chairwoman Karen Thurman said. “Florida will play an extremely important role in this election. The incredible Democratic primary turnout across the state of Florida and in all of the early primary states is proving that this entire nation is hungry for change. The nation needs Florida, and Florida is ready to deliver.”

United States Senator Bill Nelson of Florida will endorse Sen. Hillary Clinton for president. Senator Nelson was quoted recently saying that his endorsement would depend on “how [the candidates] treat Florida.” Senator Nelson now has his answer. Hillary Clinton Fights for the Rights of Florida Voters – Obama will disenfranchise Florida voters – Edwards is AWOL.

A press release issued by Senator Nelson stated “happy to see that Clinton agrees with the principle at issue in his lawsuit – that every person has a right to vote, and have the vote count as intended.”

Obama is instructing Florida Republicans (as he has done in numerous other states) to become “Democrats for a Day”. Obama does not care about Democrats. Obama only cares about himself. Obama will disenfranchise Florida Democratic voters while inciting Republicans to sneak into our party to make inexperienced Obama our nominee. Shame.

Florida voters will, thanks to Florida Big Media, know that Obama is never there when you need him. Obama can’t tell a green “Yes” button from a “Red” no button when he is voting. Florida voters will press the “Red” No button on Obama.

When Hillary refused to engage Obama/Edwards for the better part of 2007 as she was being personally attacked, she was accused by Big Media of being arrogant, because she was “looking past the the primaries”. When she finally responds she’s accused by the very same pundits of setting the negative tone of the campaign; playing the race card; etc. Disgusting.

that commentator on foxnews just lied”south carolina has never sent a woman to the congress” not true liz patterson in the late 1980’s to the early 90″s. i wish these guys would research before they shoot thier mouths off.

Paula, it’s really not the “whole media narative”. It’s mostly the cable news folks. She just won the endorsement of the paper of record, NYT, as well as one of the oldest african american papers in the country. That would not have happened if people were buying this bs.

A very good post, admin. good job! i wish the personal attacks against clinton would stop.

even if the obama camp can’t see that they’re personal, i’m sure the average amercian voter can tell it’s personal. it’s like they’re stabbing someone and repeating while stabbing that they aren’t the one doing the assault. it’s just crazy.

and good point about michigan. if they didn’t want the votes to count now, then why did they do everything to get people to vote “uncommitted”? in essence, “uncommitted” meant obama and edwards. so, now the only reason michigan is even being discussed is b/c hillary won, almost 2/3rds majority.

and THEY say she’ll do anything to win?! ha! first of all, it’s like “duh”….like that mortgage guy says: it’s “the biggest no brainer in the history of earth”. secondly, how can obama say that hillary will do anything and say anything to win exactly at the same time he is doing the same damn thing? e.g.pandering to the christian right fundies, taking money from hillary-hating rethugs, saying good things about reagan, speaking a fake southern accent, using oprah, etc. what a prick.

any democrat who has debated with a crazy-ass republican knows what this all feels like….say one thing and the republican comes back with something else and it’s usually something that would come from a CRAZY verbal abuser.

we have to keep on pointing out stuff like the above post. over and over again.

Here in NJ there were about 48,000 new voter registrations by the deadline. Around 300 were republican and 42,000 were Independent and the rest Democrats. Independents can vote in the NJ primary only if they have never voted in a NJ primary election before and can declare a party affiliation at the polls. Independents who have previously voted must have changed their registration 50 days prior to election day. So it does not look good for Obama and his be a Democrat for 1 day here in the Garden State. Better luck next time…………………

I would also point out that Obama suggests a tax raise on working class Americans in two of the biggest and bluest states. Obama has not yet acknowledged that working class Democrats in states like Cali and New York may well earn over $97k a year. Here in Los Angeles, sheriff deputies frequently earn up to $150k and considering the fact that a 1200 square foot bungalow costs over $500k and the average house payment is around $3400 a month, that’s not an upper income salary in the real world. And that’s who Obama wants to raise taxes on on – the people who have already gotten clobbered by housing costs.

Not seating delegates in Michigan and Florida. Raising taxes on working class people in NY and Cali. I just don’t see the guy as much of a Democrat.

Im finally understanding JE’s strategy. He really is a scumbag lawyer. Good thing the NYT called his bluff.

Attorney General Edwards?
An Inside Report by Robert Novak
Friday, January 25, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Illinois Democrats close to Sen. Barack Obama are quietly passing the word that John Edwards will be named attorney general in an Obama administration.

Installation at the Justice Department of multimillionaire trial lawyer Edwards would please not only the union leaders supporting him for president but organized labor in general. The unions relish the prospect of an unequivocal labor partisan as the nation’s top legal officer.

In public debates, Obama and Edwards often seem to bond together in alliance against front-running Sen. Hillary Clinton. While running a poor third, Edwards could collect a substantial bag of delegates under the Democratic Party’s proportional representation. Edwards then could try to turn his delegates over to Obama in the still unlikely event of a deadlocked Democratic National Convention

I heard about the JE AG thing too. John Edwards, that 2 faced rat would take this job to help obama out too, he would I just know it. We’ll see. I would rather him drop out and run for the senate against Elizabeth Dole in North Carolina.

Hillfans, no need to panic, listen to the bubble-headed pundits or the Obamabots. Ain’t nuttin’ over tonight until the fat lady sings. Just went through this in NH and it was like watching the grass grow only to suddenly discover that the tulips had bloomed. It’s all good and just one more benchmark.

Cafferty was talking about the HRC campaign email that was sent from Chelsea Clinton that offered the winner to sit with her at the CA debate. Cafferty then said that the second prize was to sit with her twice. Wolf then calmly chastised Cafferty, explaining what a nice young lady Chelsea is.

JE is a loser. He cant run for senate in NC cause he will lose. What else can he do but angle for a position by leveraging what is left of his popularity from the last election… Kerry is doing the same thing.

I hope he is crushed on 2/5. Im so disappointed in him. Its funny how obvious he is about saying anything to get power. He is totally transparent but the media only looks at Hillary and says she is the one shifting positions to get ahead when she is the only one of the three who has remained true to form and not reversed prior positions.

I can’t imagine how this will go over, but it’s something I want to say, even if it comes off hokey. I’ve never let that stop me before.

It would be nice to be able to talk to Hillary regularly during this campaign. Failing that, it would be nice to just write messages to her. Failing that, it would be nice to talk to one or more of her surrogates. Failing that, it would be nice to just exchange messages with one or more of her surrogates.

IMHO, that latter point is precisely what we get to do here on this site. Maybe most or all of them are unpaid, or unofficial, or whatever, but it’s obvious many of those who post here are bonafide surrogates for her – in one way or another. They really seem to know what’s going on regarding so many important matters. And, they are doing something about them.

It’s great to be able to read and comment on a lot of the stuff that’s going on in this campaign, even if it’s partly or even mostly on the fringes. They make me feel like I’m involved in this campaign, on a very minor scale. I don’t write this to flatter anybody. I just want to express my appreciation for what you are doing. I really want Hillary to become our next President — at least as much as all of you do.

Just wanted to say that I believe that SC will be closer than we think and that if Obama wins by less than 10 points it will be a win for Hillary. Obama doesn’t have much more going for him after SC. Just look at these numbers posted at the http://www.hillaryclinton.com blog:

Strength in the States: In Tennessee, a new poll from NBC affiliate WSMV-TV has Hillary up by 14 points over Sen. Obama (34-20). In Missouri, a new Rasmussen poll has Hillary up by 19 points over Sen. Obama (43-24). In Arizona, a new Behavior Research Center poll has Hillary up by 10 points over Sen. Obama (37-27). In Alabama, a new Rasmussen poll has Hillary up 15 points over Sen. Obama (43-28).In California, a new Public Policy Institute of California poll has Hillary up by 15 points over Sen. Obama (43-28). 🙂

That would be funny, and it would make a lot of em’ happy. I am ready for Florida. Ready for FLorida. Ready for Florida. Can’t wait. This will be the first true fair primary because it includes African Americans, Latinos, whites, Asian Americans, GLBT voters, men and women and the elderly vote. It is much more telling.

Ok, I hope I won’t offend the guys, but regardless of what happens in SC, I hope women really look at this opportunity to unify and help Hillary become president. Hill has always focused on women’s, chlidren’s and family issues. She has the strongest record and has demonstrated the strongest commitment to issues that most effect women. And, in the end,there are more simliarities between the issues faced by women of all ethnicities, than not. Ofcourse I hope she retains and grows her vote with men, but this does present a unique opportunity for all women.

Re Sherm Kader’s 1:06 post. You really expressed my own feelings. It is great to feel involved, part of a community, very different in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, etc. with the same vision: HILLARY IS 44!

Edwards campaign actually has been outspending both Obama and Clinton on TV ads this past week. In fact, according to our sources, Obama’s ranks THIRD in TV-ad spending here over the past week. Overall, Edwards will have spent more on TV ads in South Carolina than either of the two front-runners combined!

btw they didnt say anything about Edwards in exit poll..but again they are TOOOOO priliminary and must be a hack job by cnn..fwiw..

ok, i just caved and read that dick morris column. which reminded me of the recent headlines saying “bill rages…..at reporters” or something like that. then when you go and watch the video, it’s not even a yelling match or a rage.

also, speaking of bill standing up for himself, i know i wasn’t the only one cheering when he took on chris wallace. and that wasn’t even a rage either, but it was welcome, back when democrats weren’t speaking up….and i bet we can find a lot of diaries on dkos supporting bill clinton during that so-called “rage” it’s just plain ridiculous.

January 26th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
how come no woman’s forum? be had black forums, latino formums, and labor forums. wtf is that all about?

terrondt..just ONE of many reasons women in NH spoke so loudly and clearly. blatant sexism is still treated as a big joke in this country. hopefully, the women’s vote will catapult HRC to the nomination, february 5th.

dot48, the thing about ratings is, it makes no difference unless you are a Nielsen family with a box, right? They have no way of knowing who is watching them or not, unless you are one of the ones Nielsen tracks.

Started asking bout you after caucus…finally someone said you were laying low…I felt alone out here towards the Missouri River trying to point out how BO’s IA support was 5 miles wide and 1 inch deep. Glad to see you back.

Do you believe as I do that BO’s win here was not that big a win in reality…that it was only what the media made of it?

Sorry I hounded you about getting off here and get to your books and pathetic class notes…but really was concerned you do that and get 4 1/2 hours sleep to get at least 3 rounds of REM.

So, how’d you come out. And where did you go for break?

PS. I got 100 yard signs when the office closed…am gearing up for the GE. It’s not over til it’s over.

They way over-did his win here in Iowa. He only got one (i think) more delegate, maybe more. Thanks for pushing me during finals week. I did fine. I got 3 B’s and a C, which is good for me considering I was campaigning. I can’t wait for the GE here in Iowa. Should be interesting.

Here is an interesting article about Rezko going national (from Chicago Sun-Times)…

~~~~~~~~
Clinton was not told during the interview where the picture came from, but the Sun-Times has learned it was likely taken during an event connected to the 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
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kaffeen..just made the mistake of listening to msnbc for ONE minute and they were already touting a HRC campaign realignment based on a loss in SC. AAUUGHH! should have known better.
back to my opera broadcast.

Exit polls aren’t very private, are they? If your family is divided and all drove to the voting place together, is the person who secretly voted for HIllary going to come right out and say so in an exit poll? More likely just disappear to the restroom. 🙂

please rec this at myDD if you can – this ought to get known.
—
“You’ve Been Bamboozled!”; Obama, Spike Lee, Malcolm X , Bill Clinton and the Press Corps

by Seymour Glass

As reported by the Chicago Sun Times on Friday from South Carolina:”Don’t be hoodwinked. Don’t be bamboozled,” Obama told crowds several times during the day.
As a movie and Denzel fan, those words were very familiar to me. Theyr’e from Spike Lee’s Malcolm X. I remember going to see that movie soon after Bill Clinton won in 1992.
They were the eternal words of Malcolm X regarding political maneuvering in the African American communityhttp://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpe

So I’m not here this afternoon as a Republican, nor as a Democrat…
So I have to stand here today as what I was when I was born: A black man.
Before there was any such thing as a Republican or a Democrat, we were black…
In fact, before there was any such place as America, we were black!
And after America has long passed from the scene, there will still be black people.
I’m gonna tell you like it really is. Every election year these politicians are sent up here to pacify us! They’re sent here and setup here by the White Man!
“I say and I say it again, you’ve been had. You’ve been took. You’ve been HOODWINKED, BAMBOOZLED, led astray, run amok.”

OH MY GOD! I KNEW I HAD HEARD THOSE WORDS BEFORE! But it wasn’t just one word – “bamboozled” that had made my ears prick up and ask, Malcolm – is that you? So when I saw that both Spike’s Malcolm and Obama had both said HOODWINKED, BAMBOOZLED, it became quite clear. It was two odd, rare and unique words used in tandem. So coincidence was OUT! Obama was sure as heck sending a clear message to the movie going public (the Spike Lee movie going public that is – if you know what I mean) of South Carolina.
Here Obama was channeling Spike Lee – channeling Malclom X! Now that’s somethin’!
I Googled to see who in the national political media had written about the amazing fact that Obama had been quoting Malcolm X (as dreamed up by Spike Lee that is, Malcolm never gave such a speech, none of it, it’s pure movie magic)around the state of SC at the moment that the entire national press corps was screaming like banshees about how awful and shocking it was that the Clintons just wont stop talking in dog whistle RACE CODE while campaigning!
Guess how many articles I found had been written about this in the entire media and press corps. Go ahead guess…..of course, none. Not one. There’s one piece about this – this one. The members of the media “village” were all too busy obsessing about and making up stories about Bill’s “explosion” (again)and what a “disgrace” and distraction he has become…to…uh, well… them.(again)

As Steve M so clearly put it:

I buy that it is not a coincidence that Barack Obama is going around, the day before the South Carolina primary, repeating over and over two words that just happen to be a well-known quote from a movie speech where Malcolm X just happens to be warning the black folks not to trust white politicians who come into their community.

Look a it this way. Do you think the press corps would look the other way if in her stump speech Hillary started quoting Gary Sinese playing the race baiting George Wallace in John Frankenheimer’s bio-pic “Wallace’. Ya think?http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/75894

8,CST-NWS-sweet25.article

“Don’t be hoodwinked. Don’t be bamboozled,” Obama told crowds several times during the day.

So we now find that Obama’s been using Spike Lee’s words from fictional speeches by Malcolm X in his SC stump speech as he campaigned around the state complaining about how those awful Clintons had dared to make race an issue in this campaign….

Telling “folk” in SC they’ve been “hoodwinked” and bamboozled”

hmmm.
But there’s more. Seems “Bamboozled” means more to both Spike and Barack too! Theres actually a movie called ‘Bamboozled’, that was also directed by Spike Lee. I’m not hoodwinking ya folks!
Let’s go to the pages of the academic quarterly, the “Literary Review” to consider the deeper meaning behind all of this.
A Rhetoric Of Symbolic Identity: An Analysis Of Spike Lee’s X And(1992) and Bamboozled (2000).http://books.google.com/books?id=19gl1Pj

Hqb0C&dq=malcolm+x+hoodwinked+bamboo

zled

The film’ Bamboozled’ starts where Spike Lee’s ‘X’ ends. The term bamboozled was used by Malcolm to illustrate white corporate America management, manipulation of ideology, and discourse within the public sphere. In the opening scene of Bamboozled, Malcom’s voice is cleary heard, “you have been hoodwinked, bamboozled…” The film centers on the “bamboozled effect” of blacks and how that, in turn, shapes and defies black identity.

Bamboozled is a 2000 satirical film written and directed by Spike Lee about a modern televised minstrel show featuring black actors donning blackface makeup and the violent fall-out from the show’s success. The word “Bamboozled” means “purposefully confused, tricked or led astray”.
The content is intended as satirical, with its show within a show featuring its characters, all in blackface, performing in a watermelon patch.
The script expresses rage and grief at media representations of black people, largely through the eyes of its moral center, Sloan Hopkins (played by Jada Pinkett Smith). Johnnie Cochran, and Al Sharpton (Cochran and Sharpton appear as themselves in the film, protesting the television series).
Synopsis
Pierre Delacroix , played by Damon Wayans, is an uptight Harvard-educated black man working for a television network that routinely rejects his proposals for what he sees as intelligent shows involving black people. He is further tormented by his boss Thomas Dunwitty (played by Michael Rapaport), a tactless, boorish white man who proudly proclaims that he is more black than Delacroix.
(Think Obama identifies with this movie a little?)
Facing the necessity of either coming up with a hit black-centric show or being fired, Delacroix decides to aim for the latter. If the network fires him, he rationalizes, it will release him from his employment contract, allowing him to seek work at another network. With help from his personal assistant, Sloan Hopkins (played by Jada Pinkett Smith), Delacroix decides to pitch a minstrel show, complete with black actors in blackface, in the belief that the network will reject such over-the-top racism and fire him on the spot. To Delacroix’s horror, not only does Dunwitty enthusiastically endorse the show, it also becomes hugely successful.
The film concludes with a long montage of racially insensitive and demeaning clips of black characters from Hollywood films of the first half of the 20th century.

Oh those damn Clintons. Why do THEY have to keep bringing race into this campaign. Why can’t they be more like Barack, abide by the pledge (wink, wink!), and just quote from their favorite movies when they speak! Like ‘Birth of the Nation’ or something…
Thursday in SC President Clinton responded to a CNN reporter who grabbed him on his way out of a event and asked him to respond to charges from Dick Harpootlian, a former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party and a supporter of Barack Obama, who said some of Bill Clinton’s recent remarks on the campaign trail were appeals based on race and gender. He said the comments were meant to “suppresses the vote, demoralize voters, and distort the record,” and said they were “reminiscent of Lee Atwater.”
Bill responded to these charges and the reporter calmly and truthfully, which of course, set the media on another round of false tales that the President had “exploded”, distorted and lied.http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/200

8/01/23/bill-clinton-gets-upset-with-cnn

-reporter/

“This rhetoric is getting a little carried away here. And let me remind you, my ultimate answer is this — there are still two people around who marched with Martin Luther King and risked their lives, John Lewis and Reverend Andrew Young. They both said that Hillary was right and the people who attacked her were wrong, and that she did not play the race card, but they did.
“So I don’t have to defend myself from Dick Harpootlian. I will just refer you to John Lewis and Andrew Young. And let him go get in an argument with them about it.

Of course, the entire press corps went crazy and breathless about this – but STILL refused to present the Presidents POV. They pretended complete confusion about his charge of Obama’s “hit job”, even though it was clear the President was referring to the companion piece to the “Punjab’ memo that attacked Clinton’s finances that Obamas campaign had tried to silently push with the press corps. They feigned confusion even though the President had been quite specific about what he meant by this up in NH.
Here’s John Lewis on PBS News Hour, which was not reported on anywhere else in the media. No where. Just this little blog. Google it to see. The only place Rep. Lewis’s response has been seen is here and on a few blogs who have picked it up from here. Even after the President said go look to the hero Lewis, they still all have refused to show you his words. These words:

“It is unfortunate that people have tried to distort what Mrs. Clinton had to say about Dr. King.”
“I think there has been a deliberate and systematic attempt by some people in the Obama campaign to really fan the flames about race and to really distort what Senator Clinton said. I understood and I think most right thinking people understood what she said.
“President and Senator Clinton have a record, a history, a very long history of bringing people together. No right thinking American would ever think that Senator or President Clinton would ever do anything that would use the race card”
“I must tell you…I’m trying to set the record straight…the Obama camp is doing something else, theyr’e sending out memos to the media trying to suggest that the Clintons are playing the race card.”

-Rep. John Lewis on News Hour 1/14

Is that clear enough? Don’t you think in fairness that the American people should get to hear that point of view from a civil rights icon and true national hero?
But the media refuses to report anything that doesnt fit their script that the Clintons are truly bad and loathsome scoundrels.
Through distortion and deception the press corps is once again “hoodwinking” many voters who don’t as yet know not to trust these unworthy bastard sons of Cronkite, Lippman and Reston. They’re “Bamboozling” a large and gullible segment of the American people who would never consider the idea that our news media has become so corrupted that they are as much of the problem as the Bushies, the Abramhoffs, the Delays all added together.
Remember all the media darlings who now savage Hillary and promote Obama; Russert, Mathewss Dowd, Rich, Arianna, Sullivan. They all worked to destroy Gore in 2000 and elect Dubya to the White House. Remember these are obamas friends. Remember that and wonder why.

If you watch CNN, MSNBC and FOX you will see that lately FOX has been the most balanced. MSNBC falls over backwards kissing Obama’s ass and CNN is trying to catch up with them by banning Hillary supporters Carville and Begala yet allowing Cafferty, Brazil and Martin voice their bias views in favor of Obama and against Hillary.

I am so sick of the media saying or implying that the Clintons brought race into this campaign. I wish they would just do their jobs and go back to December and watch Oprah’s speeches about “He is the One” in Iowa and South Carolina. The Clintons did not bring up the race issue it was Oprah and Obama!!

I was screaming at my TV this morning listening to Joe Scarborough blaming Bill Clinton for bringing race into this election!!! I am SICK AND TIRED of all of them blaming the Clintons. Neither Bill or Hillary brought race into this. It all started with #1 – Oprah preaching for Obama and #2 – Chris Matthews talking about the “Bradley Effect” when Hillary won New Hampshire! THEY STARTED IT (MEDIA) AND THEY ARE CONTINUING IT BY CONSTANTLY TALKING ABOUT IT!!!

I think the white people in S.C. are sick and tired of hearing the Clintons being bashed and maybe some Obama supporters have changed their minds and gone Hillary’s way!!

The media hates the Clintons so damn much and they are so obvious about it. WHY do they love Obama so much???

I just posted a reply but it hasn’t showed up so I will try again. I am SO SICK AND TIRED of listening to these media people blaming the Clintons for bringing RACE into this election!!!! NEVER have Bill or Hillary brought race into it. It was Oprah, Obama’s wife and Chris Matthews who started talking about the “Bradley Effect” when he was dumbfounded that Hillary won the N.H. primary!!!

The media is so ANTI-CLINTON and PRO-OBAMA!!! I felt like kicking my foot through the TV this morning listening to Joe Scarborough blaming Bill Clinton for always bringing race into the campaign. DO THEY NOT REALIZE THAT IT IS THEM – THEMSELVES – THE MEDIA – WHO IS CONSTANTLY TALKING ABOUT THIS????

hi all, hope things are going well in sc today! 🙂
i always liked craig crawford & take him much more seriously than most pundits, that was a good post he wrote about race issues in the campaign. afaik he’s been at cq for many years, cq is extremely fair and independent.

i have hillary bumper stickers all over my stereo at home! right next to my fave bands stickers: guster, beastie boys, uzeda (a really cool italian band), and an album 88 (college radio in the ATL!) stickers.

thank you kaffeen. this is my dream home but my husband has had to have a back fusion and has 5 nerve root damaged to the spinal cord. we show horses and we are just in over our head with animal care and property care. i’ve had to shoulder a lot of responsibility that is hard for a 95 lb weaking lol.

its heart wrenching to sell the horses but we have to do what we have to do. life deal hard cards sometime

Did you pull that comment together? It would do so well as a separate posting somewhere, but am not in the know like pulch, BMerry, Admin and others, so will not presume to offer guidance. Hope they see this and will follow through.

I have been to Grinnell once. Everything was closed. We were driving back from the JJ Dinner in Des Moines and were hungry at around 12 or 1 am. But anyways, enjoying the weather?? I am in Iowa City, not too far away.

Hey guys, looking forward to the results. My gut is silent at the moment, the polls have been in all directions. But if Hillary is withing 10% I think it is great news!

Can anyone help with a song title?? They often play it in the background at events where Hillary is campaigning, I think the lyrics goes something like: “Yes she can, change the world….. theres no one else…… yes she can, change the world…” etc. I love it, and of course it fits perfectly, so wondering if anyone know which song this is, who plays it and whats it called.

i saw them in concert in knoxville, tn once and they blew me away. had to change guitars multiple times b/c strings were popping left and right. also, the bass player has his mojo and seems to be one with the drummer, which kicks ass live. awesome sounds.

i had a paper to write the day after and i had poison ivy and i STILL went to the concert. i highly recommend seeing them LIVE.

hehe, hawk that’s a good thing to know, BUT do you happen to know what the song is called? 🙂 hehe

agree with you regarding the Police, but as with all songs, if they fit the occasion all songs can suddenly seem good.

Obama has notably been backpedaling with regards to expectations. telling people to ignore the polls, and come out to vote even if the polls show him with a big lead. I guess he is learning after what happened in NH, but still he and his campaign are bad at playing the expectations game.

Sherm…many of us feel the same way about this site. I’m plumping for it to be on the universal healthcare plan….for those of us with bad hearts, it’s better than nitroglycerin or valium.

Just when you wonder if the planet is on a different trajectory than you…..and you don’t understand the English language….when facts become smears … and smears are facts… and criticisms are racist…and fighting for us is corrupt… and experience is bad …
and sexism is everywhere … Hillaryis44 lets you know that you’re not crazy.

BTW, I thought Romney’s ‘joke’ about Bill was smarmy and utterly false. I have heard nobody on air criticize it. In the 7 years since Bill has had “nothing to do” he has raised money for the tsunami, raised bilions for international problems, written a book about giving, worked on his own AIDS foundation, and helped with Katrina. Is there nobody who wants to point this out? I love it when Bill has “nothing to do”.

When TV gets really bad, watch Tiger Woods play golf on CBS in a way nobody else is familiar with.

freckles, if Romney is the nominee and Clinton is the nominee (hopefully) they will use that if Romney dares repeat such a statement. You don’t want Clinton to unleash anything right now to do with the rethugs. The Clintons have it all covered believe me.

ADMIN and others: There is a wealth of info in this link about Rezko’s other business ties and connections to various Chicago politicians. I don’t know if any of it is relevant, but thought I’d throw it out there:

Caroline, I’m sure you’re right. I’m not so worried about them — it’s MY stomach that churns. And I don’t care so much about Romney — it’s about every single pundit/analyst/commentator/Obama stooge that just thought it was “the best line of the night”.

Hey everyone,go to drudgereport.”Surge in early balloting shifts Florida races” I am so excited to Vote for Hillary this tues. The article says she will fly in tomorrow.TN tonight how does she do it?I pray for her everday.Thanks to all of you for the super job you are doing.

Given three choices, half the voters said the economy was the most important issue facing the country _ up from 38 percent in the only other competitive Democratic primary to date, in New Hampshire on Jan. 8. About a quarter picked health care, comparable to New Hampshire. Only about one in five picked Iraq, down from 27 percent in New Hampshire.

A wave of robocalls from the Hillary Clinton campaign hit South Carolina voters today, according to Time magazine’s The Page, which has transcribed the calls:

Voice: Hello, This is the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign.

Before you vote on Saturday, you should know that John Edwards voted for permanent trade relations with China. That’s right, John Edwards voted for the bill that cost thousands of jobs. Like the ones in the textile mills he talks about so much down here.

You should also know that John Edwards made nearly a half a million dollars working for a Wall Street investment fund. A fund that’s been profiting on foreclosing on the homes of families; including 100 homes right here in South Carolina. That’s according to The State newspaper. Here in South Carolina, Edwards says he’s one of us, but up on Wall Street he was just another one of them.

Can you trust John Edwards? This call is paid for by the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign.

Mollyjrichards sends a big hooray to Craig Crawford. Hooray for callin’ out the bullshit.

Yall it’s time to get on the media big time. This is obnoxious. I just canvassed for Hillary all mornin’ and I’m telling ya something: people like the Clintons. News flash, BO: we’d be far more united without you in the race, dude.

My roommate makes a joke where he sings “Bette Davis eyes” to the tune of “Candy Crowley eyes…” and he tells the story how George W. said Candy Crowley gave him a virus.. A great George W quote is when he said: “”What I’m not gonna miss, which is what we all, some of us went through in 2000, which was getting on an airplane and having…my friend Candy Crowley pass a virus around. I got a respiratory infection, so did half the press corps. They got off the plane; I didn’t get to get off the plane! It was tough.”

CNN truly has the best of the best. I mean, we just had Rudy and now Mike Huckabee is on talking about….??

I think certain demographics of Obama supporters are going to be a bit lulled by the consensus that Obama has already won SC (even days in advance of this thing). I would expect Hill’s supporters to be a little older, and wiser.

lol @ mj.. mj I read a lot.. but then I dont store the links :).. oh btw, be prepared for surprise.. there is chance of Hillary actually pulling off a victory if she does as good as she did in rural america in other states.. it looks like 14% independents and rethugs who didnt vote in repub primary, majority of them might vote in dem, and despite conventional wisdom and media hype, we all know except in IW, indies have heavily favoured Hillary, especially in rural areas..

gladiatorstail, it’s helpful to know what you are talking about if you let us know where you learned something. In NV, Obama won alot of rural areas, right? There may be repubs going out to stop Hill, so we really won’t know unti the votes are in.

The deadline for primary registration was over a month ago. All voters must present ID at polling locations. And no, voters in the Republican primary cannot vote today, for the same rolls will be used to verify voters’ identities.

Has this been posted? An update on SC voter turnout–this was posted on DU:

From NBC’s Terry Pickard
An update from South Carolina’s Elections Commission:

Turnout is heavier than last Saturday’s GOP primary.

Reports from various counties:
Marlboro County — heavy
Dorchester County — slightly heavier than last weekend
Charleston County — much heavier in some precincts
Williamsburg County — average
Edgefield County — very busy
Cherokee County — greater turnout than last week
Hampton County — turnout is much higher than last week
Darlington County — fairly good

Most voters I contacted will cast their votes for Hillary, and my reception while standing on my rightful place, the street corner, was welcoming and supportive. But I volunteered in York County, the high country, a notoriously conservative portion of SC.

I hate to say this, but SC is going down racial lines. I don’t like it anymore than the other person, but I’m a realist about this and it is obviously evident. Those numbers about turnout, if they hold true, would probably be welcome to Hillary’s campaign.

the office was bustling with volunteers, and the GOTV operation was extensive. elderly voters will receive transportation; workers are staffing offices in the smaller counties; visibility activities were fielded on major intersections in the region; and Hillary’s signs are ubiquitous.

I am so furious with Shields and Brooks from the NewsHour! Brooks said “I just think what the Clintons have said has been shameless and absurd. The idea that Barack Obama was supporting Ronald Reagan’s policies is just a lie…”

WOW! I saw the interview and read the transcript — Barack sure fooled me into thinking that very same thing!

Shields: “I mean, the most baseless charge that Bill Clinton has made this past week-and-a-half, two weeks is that Barack Obama injected the issue of race into this campaign.”
WOW AGAIN! So saying that it took a President to turn MLK’s dream into reality was playing the race card. Geez. was playing the race card!

BM.. this nuclear plantstuff worries me if its true.. I mean rezko the slum lord was fine.. but if he got help from Obama to mess around in Iraq, then thats wrong at SOOOOOOOOOOO many levels.. I am still looking around for other articles.. or is it coming out of rethug oppo research?

and those who acknowledged me while i was manning the street corner were largely african-american. in fact, two african-american women stopped their cars and asked me why they should vote for hillary. i offered my explanation, and i believe i convinced them to support our candidate. and by the way, many SC voters still remain undecided.

Blue Sky
We’ve waited long – for this day to come
For all the midnight lights we’ve burnt into the morning sun
I can’t wait to see your sweet mysteries
The stars, the sun, the universe, the galaxies
Fly home on your silver wings
With a new song for the world to sing
Light this candle, make it right

Yes you can change the world
True love discovers. She stands, and she won’t back down
Oh yes you can change the world
There is no other one just
See if you can find blue sky
Gonna chase the dream, gonna set it free
Gonna make it real, gonna make it shine, gonna keep it grooving on

One small stepping stone
Baby we’re not alone
Gonna take you further, higher, faster then your out a sight
You’ve got my flame in your fire
You’ve got my twinkle in your eye,
Reaching for the distant light

Yes you can change the world
True love discovers. She stands, and she won’t back down
Oh yes you can change the world
There is no other one just
See if you can find blue sky
Don’t Change to late, hey, yeah yeah
Or Fade away, hey , yeah yeah,
My stars won’t wait
Oh yes you can change the world
True love discovers. When she stands and she wont back down.
There is no other one
Believe and you will find blue sky

DENVER – Never known as a political rock band, Big Head Todd and the Monsters have jumped on the Hillary Clinton bandwagon, hoping that their song, “Blue Sky” becomes an anthem for her presidential campaign.

The group tries to keep political issues out of its music because, as guitarist and vocalist Todd Park Mohr tells it, “politics is very polarizing.”

But because band members “are all Democratic folks leaning left of the dial” who are “excited about the prospect of Hillary being president,” they agreed when Clinton’s campaign asked them to perform at her whistle stop on Denver’s Auraria campus.

As Mohr tells it, Tuesday’s rally marked the first big political gig for the Colorado-based group. He said he hopes for a “longer relationship” with the U.S. Senator from New York, envisioning the group’s song “Blue Sky” as a possible campaign theme.

“It’s a very optimistic song about how you can change the world. We think it would work for her,” he said.

Mohr, 42, told The Post that he long has followed politics and actively votes near his home in Steamboat Springs.

Routt County’s recording supervisor Tina Fry said Tuesday that her records show “we don’t have him as an active registered voter.” Mohr later told The Post, “Actually, I haven’t voted in a while there. But I’m gonna change that now.”

Interviews with voters as they left their polling places indicated about half the electorate was black.

Half the voters said the economy was the most important issue in the race. About one quarter picked health care. And only one in five said it was the war in Iraq, underscoring the extent to which the once-dominant issue has faded in the face of financial concerns.

Roughly half the voters said former President Clinton’s campaigning for his wife was very important to their choice.

The exit poll was conducted by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International for The Associated Press and the networks.

and the rock hill herald, the largest newspaper in the region, had favorable articles on hillary and chelsea on their front pages. the local us representative, john spratt, introduced hillary at her rally in rock hill last night. although he did not officially endorse her, his words were encouraging. I quote: “Senator Clinton, you can go back and tell Bill that you drew a bigger crowd than he did.”

“Some of the stuff that’s happened in the last seven years, you can’t make up,” she said during a critique of George Bush. “When the vice president shot somebody in the fact, I thought that was the end.”

“Some of the stuff that’s happened in the last seven years, you can’t make up,” she said during a critique of George Bush. “When the vice president shot somebody in the face, I thought that was the end.”

I just thanked Craig Crawford. I’;ve always wondered myself why saying Obama’s anti-war record is a ‘fairytale’ is racist, or why mentioning OB’s teen drug use (which neither Clinton has done) is racist, since white kids do just as much or more. It’s like ANY criticism of OB is considered racist!

Pulchritude, we all appreciate your reports from South Carolina. Now Hawk and Emjay and Freckles (etc.) can appreciate how much we all appreciated their reports from the earlier voting states. As we go from state to state to state it appears we will have eyewitness reports from all the states.

LEXINGTON, Va. — After gathering information from polls, blogs and interviews with experts, students at Washington and Lee are giving the nod to Hillary Rodham Clinton in the country’s most accurate mock convention.

The Virginia liberal arts school’s contest has proven correct all but five times in the last 100 years. The school has only missed the mark once since 1948.

Clinton won more than 2,100 fake delegates, 92 more than she needed to secure the nomination thanks to her home state, New York. Rival Barack Obama won over about 1,600 delegates while John Edwards trailed with 288.

Former President Clinton called to thank the students for their support and encouraged them to stay in politics.

The choice for vice president was former Congressman Harold Ford Junior of Tennessee

I have an email question in the thinking-drawer for this Wednesday’s NewsHour on-line forum starring Brooks and Shields…if you want to contribute a question or comment, go to pbs.org…NewsHour Forum. it’ a live online thing.

Have never done it before, but I’m so mad at Mark, I’m going to let him have it!

Prairie Home Companion a hoot already…going to stock up on ketsup and a stiff bourbon and get a reality check b4 polls close.

I LOVE Craig Crawford! He has now joined Paul Krugman in the ranks of men whom I think are adorable and will likely wrap my arms around if I ever meet them in person.

Hey, Craig, we Liberal women already talk about how we think Paul is sort of sexy in his nerdy way. He has kind of a fan club. You may get added to the list, because smart, enlightened men who don’t freak out over strong women are HAWT in my book. 😉

I saw a clip of a speech Obama gave today or last night and he was quoting the movie without saying he was talking in code to the audience as the press likes to say about Bill. Playing the race card!!!

And Obama is not making this about race? Look at this excerpt from the AP…

The Obama campaign has long argued that South Carolina would be his best state among the early voting states, figuring that interest in putting the first black president in office would attract many of the black voters who make up half of the state’s Democratic primary electorate.

Obama sent a large staff to the state early, when polls showed him trailing far behind Hillary Rodham Clinton, and their focus was on building support in churches, beauty salons, barber shops and neighborhoods where black voters spend their time.

As an AA, I am really offended by Obama’s tactics. He is the one that is dividing groups. I don’t need this sh**. All I care about is who is better suited to fix the crappy economy that we have and the answer is Hillary.

So next time I tell you Carl Bernstein is going to be on live for a full hour on Iowa Public Radio, welcoming call-in questions, you’ll join me?

He was supposed to be on this past Tues, but had to cancel because of layngitus…it’s being rescheduled.

Shape your questions/comments now…by the way the screeners only want your name and the gist of your question, and you don’t get bumped if you are not asking what the guest wants on this Univ of Iowa show…streamed to the world.

I’ll give a radio alert next time he is scheduled. The reason he’s on so much is cause his Hillary hit-book is not doing well in stores, so he’s on his 2nd round of shilling to get some sales…no appearence fees, so lots of shows take the free “pundit.”

Two groups that have been heavily courted in the run-up to today’s South Carolina Democratic primary — women and African-Americans — are turning out in large numbers today.

Preliminary exit poll results indicate that just over half are blacks this year; if that holds in final data later tonight, it would be the highest turnout among African-Americans in any Democratic presidential primary at least since 1984.

Turnout among women is high as well — they account for six in 10 voters, similar to their 57 percent share in 2004 and higher than their 52 percent in the 1992 exit poll. (There were no South Carolina Democratic primaries in 1996 or 2000.)

Kudos to Craig Crawford who single handedly cleaned up the clocks of the despicable MSNBC personalities. He defended Bill vigorously like a pro unlike the hack turds of MSNBC. He cited the following factors responsible for race becoming an issue:

1) Oprah and BO’s joint visit to SC.
2) Democratic party moveing up the date to highlight the AA participation.
3) The media characters of MSNBC who brought up Bradley effect. We all know it was Tweety that brought that up first.
4) Repeated reference by the media to race issues.

He said it was very unfair for the hack from Boston to blame Bill Clinton. You know whom I am talking about.

I’m going to go see a movie tonight (There Will Be Blood). I’ll be in the movie while the count comes in. I kind of live for this stuff, but my significant other couldn’t be less intrigued. I’m going to bring my phone in with me, I’ll be the little blue light in the middle row watching the numbers roll in (lol). I’ll check in later tonight here.

rickya, I was the one who finds her creepy. I think she looks so sad all the time…and what is she wearing? She looks like Malificent from Sleeping Beauty tonight.

I was also laughing at George Bush when asked about what he’ll miss about campaigning…

“What I’m not gonna miss, which is what we all, some of us went through in 2000, which was getting on an airplane and having…my friend Candy Crowley pass a virus around. I got a respiratory infection, so did half the press corps. They got off the plane; I didn’t get to get off the plane! It was tough. I said my friend, I’m not dissen Candy!”